Stumbling Upon the Dead
by Sir-Pimpmaster-Arthur
Summary: Arthur has been dating Alfred for a few weeks and then walks into his house one day to find him, dead. Arthur must learn to cope with this new development but feels something mysterious in the air. Rated M for gore to be safe, possible smut in later on
1. Chapter 1

He shivered a bit from the cold, even though it was a little warmer than usual for winter, there was still a cold breeze in the air which caused him to shiver. Not only that but it felt like an ominous, dark cloud was hanging over him since yesterday, warning him of something yet to come. He shrugged it off though, like anything could hurt Alfred or himself. They were countries for God's sake! Very little could actually kill them and he knew that if he was fine, Alfred would be too. He was too heroic in the first place in order to let anything happen to him.

He then turned down the street, a small smile coming to his face as he spotted Alfred's house. Ah, he was like a fool in love, something he promised not to do to himself when he was younger, but sometimes one couldn't control these things. And in fact, he was quite happy he fell for someone like Alfred, though not always the brightest he always meant well, and could make anyone feel happy when they were sad. Overall, a truly good soul, and a great partner in life.

He sighed and saw his breath billow into a cloud in front of him, suppressing another shiver. It almost seemed like his house had a dark cloud of death surrounding it and Arthur was hesitant as he approached the door.

The first thing he noticed which was odd was the fact that the door was open, not by much but a simple crack. This was quite alarming since even when Arthur did visit Alfred had left it locked like a city vault of some kind. Then a familiar smell hit him, one that he hadn't smelled since he was on the frontlines during World War II. Blood. He mouthed as he went over the word in his head. The metallic smell was rather familiar, and stunk of iron. There was also the faint smell of rot.

Something that was not natural in the American's home but sometimes was there in case he forgot to throw away something. But the minute the blood hit his nostrils along with the ominous chills he had gotten that morning, he could sense that something was extremely wrong. He took a deep breath, the overpowering scents causing him to flinch a bit as he pushed the door open slowly and peered around the corner.

He then started to walk slowly into the American's house. "Alfred?" He called out weakly, but received no answer. He then looked around the house slowly and solemnly as possible, the reek getting stronger the closer he got to the American's room, bile and dread rising in his throat. He swallowed it and saw that his room was closed; but not locked. He reached out for the knob slowly, turning it even slower and opening the door slowly, where he stopped in his tracks completely, his eyes widening.

No sounds came out, no cries were uttered as he saw his love on the floor covered in blood, with a sword through his mid-section. He had no clue how he died, or how long he had been dead but it was clear that he was, in fact dead. He wasn't sure if he died from blood loss or if someone had stabbed him through the heart. He swallowed thickly ad he approached the body slowly. A flood of emotions crashed over him, sorrow, regret, and rage being the most prominent. He shook his head slowly and felt himself go completely numb from any and all emotion.

No tears came, no sobbing, no cries were uttered from his lips. Completely and thoroughly numb. He didn't wish for anything to get better or worse, didn't wish misfortune upon the person that did this, no emotion at all. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, noticing he could no longer smell blood, fear, or rot. Like the air was completely rid of all scents in the air. He walked up to the body, removing the sword and flinging it to the side, sticking in the wall and staying there.

He then walked out of the room, and found a first aid kit in his bathroom, grabbing the bandages and a wet cloth out. He was running on instinct at this point, he almost felt as if he couldn't control his own body. He then picked up the other's body and lied it gently on the bed, removing any cloths that were saturated in blood. Once all the clothes were off that covered his torso, he cleaned the wound and wrapped gauze and bandages around the wound, making sure it was secure. He put a fresh shirt on the other, feeling that his body was ice cold, but even his hands were numb at that point so the temperature didn't register.

He sighed and moved the other into the bed and placed the covers over him. Of course he was going to be alright, it was just a small wound, he was going to wake up smiling tomorrow morning welcoming Arthur with one of his warm hugs. Yes, it was all going to be okay in the morning of course, time and fate wouldn't be this cruel to him, to kill someone off that he actually fell in love with. The first to boost, and Alfred certainly didn't deserve to die. He would be completely fine in the morning, he was probably just playing a joke of some kind.

Fate was a cruel, cruel thing, and one that was always against Arthur, ready to smash his heart to bits and throw the pieces of the heart in his face to pick back up again. He wasn't sure if he could if it came to this though. He shook his head and slipped into bed beside the other, curling around his body and placing his head on the other's chest. "You'll be fine in the morning Alfred, I'm sure." He mumbled and his voiced cracked. He gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes, letting the black wave of sleep finally overtake him.

**AN: Wow, my first story, please review and such, those are much appreciated of course. This is based off an RP I did with my partner on tumblr hehe. I hope you guys enjoyed it, poor Arthur. This will be a dual-perspective story, in which each chapter will be written from another perspective, first Arthur, then Alfred and so on. So yes, thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alfred's POV**

Alfred heard someone barge into his house, calling his name. At this time? Geeze, it's like seven in the morning. Can't people learn when it's not nice to bust into someone's house while they're sleeping? I mean- he did it a lot but that didn't mean people could do such back to him. Pulling into the living room, America waved his arms around, "What do you think you're doi-Oh hey England." No response came from the man. "England?" Still no response. "Hey. Hey. Hey listen. Hey. Hey Bushy Brows. Hey listen." The blonde shouted, trying to get the country's attention. What was wrong with him? Is he deaf? What was even going on? "Look, I didn't finish my report yesterday. I guess I conked out early or- Where are you going, now? Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ugh, why did this Brit have to be so difficult? "You can't just barge in and ignore me, you know!" Flinging both arms in the air, he caught himself almost falling over when England stopped in his bedroom doorway, opening the door, slowly. "….Is this your weird way of asking for sex? Because, truthfully, you really need to stop being so-" Looking inward he noticed…erhm…a more than gruesome redecoration of sorts.

A familiar outfit that was soaked to the brim with blood, impaled by a single sharp instrument.

His clothes.

A familiar face frozen in a blank stare which seemed to be gazing back at the two of them.

His face.

A body just laying, silent upon the floor, unable to ever laugh or run or smile ever again.

His body.

"You've gotta be joking." Alfred scoffed, arms crossed in a disbelieving manner. This was some kind of prank. It had to be. I mean how is this even possible? Looking over to England who had become almost frozen solid with grief, the inner mechanisms of his mind clicked into place; letting him figure out just what was going on. "You can't see me, can't you?" He asked as he watched the other go to the corpse's aide. "No. Of course you can see me! You and the others just pulled together this entire thing to mess with me, didn't you? Well, ha ha, very funny!" Arthur actually started to tend to it. Trying to patch up the wounds and clean up the blood without even caring about the fact that he was long gone. "Thi- this is just a prank!" Standing silently for a long moment in front of the country, America's voice broke in a loud scream, "Stop it! Stop it! You're doing this on purpose! I get it!"

Not a flinch.

Not even a look.

There was just this blank expression across England's face that showed nothing but complete numbness.

So…he was dead.

It was over.

He had failed.

Caught, with his guard down and cut down before being able to do anything.

How did this even ha-oh.

The dog.

That weird dog thing had just stabbed him out of nowhere. But, wait, he can't die he was a country! He was a- wait. Those were his last words, weren't they? Damn. What shitty last words! He should have said something more like 'A man does not die even when he's killed!' Or some heroic stuff like that.

For some reason, peering over to Arthur cleared his mind of these selfish thoughts…"What are you trying to do?" The American asked in exasperation, "I'm dead. You can't just bandage me up and everything would end up okay!" Of course he couldn't hear the man but, to be frank, it would've probably ended up the same way if he was audible. "You're such a stubborn, hard headed, stupid, weird, sweet….." He stumbled over his own words, "Nice guy…". Alfred couldn't be angry. Not now. It just— it didn't even seem

Dropping to his knees at the bedside, he tried to grab for a hand or and arm but to no avail. This. This was the ultimate defeat: being forced to watch someone suffer. Someone you loved dearly. All because you were stupid enough to get yourself killed. But, worst of all, not being able to do anything to help. To heal the wounds. To comfort. It was maddening. So- what? Was this Hell? Was this some form of punishment? Was this just some kind of really bad dream? Why was he still here?

Turning to face him, America started to try to reason all possibilities in his head in some attempt to balance out what he could possibly do at this point. "Y-you said you can see weird stuff! You should be able to see me! To hear me!" Ah, what was the point in arguing with something so stupid? England's 'magic' never worked. It wasn't real. Something like that— it didn't exist. But, still…at least he can still be around him. Heh, it was funny, really. Even though it seemed like a punishment, at least he didn't have to be separated from the Brit. Not now, anyway.

"Stupid ass." He huffed, rubbing the back of his head, "I know why I'm still here." Alfred chuckled a bit to himself, "Because my work isn't done yet. You still need me, don't you?" With a shake of his head, he smiled as wide as possible, "Well fine. It's a deal. I'll stick around. Just because I know that you can't possibly survive without me…" Watching Arthur fall into his slumber, Alfred just sat at the bedsides, waiting.

And you know what?

It was okay.

Everything…

Everything was going to be alright.

**AN: And this was written by .com who is my RP partner hehe**

**I hoped you guys enjoyed this and didn't cry too much**

**Molly out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur did the complete opposite of sleeping well. His dreams were haunted by darkness, imagining the only one who could kill his love. He felt like he was thrown into a chaotic sea of black with no hope of ever getting out, no light, forever lost on the tumultuous waves of the sea. He kept searching for Alfred, but there seemed to be no sign of him anywhere.

When he looked around and churned it felt like he wasn't swimming in water but something sticky and thick like tar, threatening to swallow him up any minute. He was dragged down by something and took his last breath till suffocation overwhelmed him and he gave up.

His eyes shot open to find out he was still resting on Alfred's chest, finding it to this time be very cold. He found that it was also damp near where he was, and there was a small spot on the bed below where it was damp. He brought his hand up and felt around his eyes and found that it was soaked some still streaming out, without him knowing.

So he was sobbing, in his sleep.

Well at least all of the sadness got out of him. He looked up and noticed moonlight streaming through the window. He had been asleep for quite a long time, and looked down at Alfred's face seeing it looked rather peaceful, like the real one was in front of him right now and not his corpse. He gave a shaky sigh and got up. He gave the other a kiss on his forehead and felt the warmth be pulled from his lips into the ice-cold chill below. He gave a small shiver and sat on the edge of the bed.

His stomach rumbled from hunger but he pushed the feeling aside, the last thing he could do right now is eat right now, he just really wanted to stay here with Alfred no matter what. Though, there was something off, he could feel some kind of presence around him but shrugged it off. This wasn't the time to be thinking about Alfred anyway.

"Why, of all people did it have to be you Alfred?" He mumbled under his breath, his voice raw and and hoarse from his sobbing. At least he got a bit of his senses back as he looked back at the other's body. He shook his head slowly. "You never did anything wrong, love. So why was it you? You never deserved anything like this, at all. Heh, I guess I bring bad luck to anyone I fall in love with, maybe I should stay away from people all together. Especially since cruel and twisted fate decided it wanted to smash my heart and throw the pieces at me to pick up. Funny how fate works huh?" He sighed and looked down at his hands.

So what was he going to do with Alfred anyway? Keep him here and wait to see if anything happens? That seemed good but he knew he shouldn't keep a body for too long of course. But he couldn't let it go any time soon any way, no matter how long he wanted to keep Alfred with him. It's hard grieving of course. The only time he did this was when one of the rulers died. It really hurt when someone you love dies, like choking on tears and sobs one is trying to keep in.

He gave a sigh as he looked back at Alfred and scooted closer to the body. "Oh Alfred, I wish I could have been there to stop it, please forgive me." He whispered as the tears on his face started to slip down again into steady streams. He buried his face into the other's jacket and started to sob again. He just didn't know why fate was such a cruel and twisted thing, taking things that he loved or adored and crushing them. Why would it be this heartless? He had no clue, but wished that this never happened to the one he loved the most. He buried his face in deeper and felt the sobs continue, giving the hint they wouldn't stop any time soon.

~Alfred~

That thrashing.

As Arthur thrashed and cried in his sleep, Alfred agonizingly watched the display of pain before him. It was unfair. He should be able to jump in and save England from these things. Well…he could at least try. "Please work" he mumbled under his breath, reaching over to touch England's shoulder- if only for a minor second- just long enough to awake him from this nightmare.

It didn't work. His hands just slipped through, as if he was grabbing at air. Oh, what a fine defeat this was. And there wasn't even much of a fight to put up, to begin with. Death was just one cheeky little bitch, wasn't he?

It didn't matter, now, he supposed. Arthur awoke soon after, eyes as wide as saucers. "Good morning, sunshine." Alfred chimed in with a tad bit of sarcasm. The Brit just looked around, as if he was lost somewhere. Well, at least he didn't have that manniquin-eqsue expression on his face. Of course the miserable one that replaced it wasn't much of an improvement, either. "Please don't cry anymore." He stated in an almost childlike manner, "I don't like it when you cry." Arthur leaned over to kiss his-well not his, exactly, but his body's forehead. "Thank you." As he sat on the edge of the bed, America attempted to rest his head on the man's lap. Oh how he craved that warmth, again. "I'm sorry." He looked up to see if England even was looking at him. No. No he wasn't. "I'm sorry, Brita-" Stopping himself, the blonde internally decided to call him by that other name that he was so crazy about. "Arthur. I'm so, so sorry." He dearly wanted to cry, but, no tears came out. Of course. Why would they? Ghosts can't cry. There were no tears to produce, no warmly red feeling in the face, no air to wail with. So, instead, he just stayed there. Pretending to be in England's lap while going through the motions of sobbing. Just- just the illusion of it was good enough for him.

This went on up until Arthur finally spoke aloud, "Why, of all people did it have to be you Alfred?"

The play-acting stopped immediately. Moving away from his body and standing straight up to face him America tried to get out the words but none seemed to come out. He- he didn't know why. He really didn't. But, that didn't matter anymore. He could care less why or how or when or who or whatever! He just wanted to be back and would have given anything for that.

"You never did anything wrong, love. So why was it you? You never deserved anything like this, at all. Heh, I guess I bring bad luck to anyone I fall in love with, maybe I should stay away from people all together. Especially since cruel and twisted fate decided it wanted to smash my heart and throw the pieces at me to pick up. Funny how fate works huh?"

No. The words. They peirced through him like…well like that sword earlier, he supposed. It was odd, really. He couldn't feel anything but those words…they made him physically ache. "Don't talk like that." Alfred blurted out, "I-it wasn't your fault and- and 'fate' is just a word people made up to blame shit on!" The more he talked, the louder his voice became, to the point that it had reached screaming levels, "If you want to be angry at anyone, be angry at me! I'm the reckless one! I thought I was going to live forever! Don't you think for one damn second that you could run around, saying that it's your fault! If it's anyone's fault, it's mine so don't cry! Alright?"

It was odd.

Usually, after yelling like this, he would have to catch his breath or calm himself down but, now, he didn't feel any different than he did a few moments ago.

"Just…just don't blame yourself. That's all I ask."

Why was he even bothering? It wasn't going to do any good. Arthur couldn't hear him even if he so dearly wanted to.

He watched as Arthur slipped over to his body and began talking to it again. And, for some reason, he felt a sense of comfort on the fact that he didn't just throw his body into a ditch in the backyard or whatever. England really did love him…And it wasn't even some kind of 'boredom crush' that appears out of nowhere. He could tell…that man had these feelings for a long time.

But, now it was too late.

It's sort of funny, in a psycotic way, how this turned out wasn't it?

Tears streamed down England's face as, through his broken voice, he whispered, "Oh Alfred, I wish I could have been there to stop it, please forgive me."

"No, stop." His voice began to tremble, "Please stop." Alfred put his hands over the sides of his head as the pain intensified, "No, don't blame yoµr§êl£! Ì†'§ ñö† rïgh† þlêå§ê Ðöñ'†. ¥öµ Ðöñ'† Ðê§êrvê †hï§. Ì† hµr†§. Ì wåñ† †ö ¢r¥. ¥öµ Ðöñ'† µñÐêr§†åñÐ †hå† ï†'§ m¥ £åµl†. Ì §höµlÐ håvê ßêêñ †hê hêrö. Ì'm †hê öñê whö §höµlÐ ßê §örr¥ þlêå§ê Ðöñ'† åþölögïzê! Ì wå§ñ'† §†röñg êñöµgh. Ì ¢åñ'† §†åñÐ §êêïñg ¥öµ lïkê †hï§! Ì† £êêl§ lïkê Ì'm ßêïñg kïllêÐ åll övêr ågåïñ! Ì þrößåßl¥ Ðê§êrvêÐ †hï§ †ö ßêgïñ wï†h! §†öþ ¢r¥ïñg! Jµ§† §êêïñg ¥öµ lïkê †hï§ måkê§ mê ïll! þlêå§ê lï§†êñ †ö mê!" He had to make it stop, somehow! Ugh! It felt like his brain was about to explode! In one desperate chance to get Arthur to stop, he thrashed against the mirror.

CRASH

"I-it broke." He murmured, the pain, now gone and his head, now cleared.

**AN: Alright, I felt that they were each too short to have in just one chapter, so I combined them. Now, the current outlook for the next chapter is difficult since after this there's a time skip and the responses have dwindled down to a paragraph or two each, ranging from 150-200 words, so yep, I'll try to get chapter 4 up as fast as I can! Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 3, later~**


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